Robert E. Johnson, M.D. '42

Bob came from Oak Park, IL to join us at Amherst in 1938 – the same year his older brother Victor graduated from Amherst. He majored in chemistry, played football and basketball, earning his “A” in both sports. He also distinguished himself as a two-year member of the Student Council and Sphinx. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta.

After graduation in 1942, Bob entered the Army Specialized Training Program at Columbia University in New York where he graduated from medical school. Then, as an intern at Bellevue Hospital, he met and later married a fellow resident, and they began their individual medical practices in Framingham, MA. They raised three children, two of whom are practicing physicians and the other a publisher.

In addition to family and professional duties, Bob served on the Editorial Board of the New England Journal of Medicine for many years, and his wife Lorna worked for a long time at Harvard Medical School. Bob was a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a frequent author of published medical articles.

He died on August 22, 2005. He is survived by his wife, Lorna; his children, Robert Jr., Laurel Lyons and Amy; and his brother Victor.  

—Theodore T. Peck ’42